Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Sets New 1-Year Low – Here’s Why

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $13.72 and last traded at $13.72, with a volume of 487641 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $13.81.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on BXMT shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.20.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.6%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $15.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.87. The company has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 152.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.91.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.10). Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 1.57%.The company had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.32 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.7%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2,088.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, Director Henry N. Nassau acquired 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.34 per share, for a total transaction of $143,400.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 218,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,619.82. The trade was a 4.80% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 2,398 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total value of $41,917.04. Following the sale, the president directly owned 74,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,303,466.12. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233. 1.18% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northside Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 151.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $46,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.